Tonight, I have to get a good night’s sleep because tomorrow will be a day filled with presenting and feedback. The conference starts at 7 a.m. When I arrived, I found out that I was put in Dr. Travis Vogan’s small group.
He is a professor at the University of Iowa in the school of journalism and mass communications. As of now, I know that we will be spending about six hours in his group discussing our research. Six hours seems like a lot of time, but I think that time will fly, considering the amount of information we have to get through. I am super excited to hear Vogan’s address tomorrow evening.
All I was told was that he is presenting some of his own research to the entire group. I find this to be an important part of the conference because all of the undergraduates are able to learn more about their assigned professors. I am equally ecstatic that Vogan teaches at the University of Iowa.
I have realized that these conferences are not all about presenting or getting feedback on one’s research. Conferences are about making crucial connections, too. I know that many seniors and juniors at Augustana are either looking for graduate programs, internships, or full time jobs. Some fields, unlike others, are harder to break into. Making connections with older and more experienced individuals in one’s desired field is key. And, conferences like these are a great place to start, from what I am learning.
Not only will I be making a connection with Vogan, my roommate who I just met today has interned with Fox News this past year. I applied to Fox News in Chicago, and she said she knows the people who run their Human Resources. She said that she would call HR to talk to them about my application. Surely, this doesn’t mean I will ever obtain an internship with Fox; yet, it is a step closer from where I was before. Within only a couple hours of being here, I have made a key connection. Hopefully, there will be more to come tomorrow. T
his is a written account by Augustana junior multimedia journalism and communication studies major Katie Canning as she takes us on her journey of navigating an undergraduate honors conference at DePauw University.